1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable personal training devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable personal training device having a housing with a first portion and a second portion coupled to the first portion at an angle to facilitate use and positioning of the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Athletes and fitness buffs often wish to monitor and record certain performance values while they train and exercise. For example, runners, bikers, and other athletes often track and record their distance, speed, pace, heart rate, and/or calories burned during a workout so that they can compare these performance values to benchmark values or values from previous workouts.
Historically, these performance values have been monitored and recorded with various different stand-alone components including stop watches, pedometers, heart rate monitors, and calorie calculators or charts. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that use of all these different components is time-consuming, cumbersome, and often inaccurate.
To alleviate some of these problems, portable personal training devices have been developed to simplify and improve exercise monitoring. One such device manufactured by Garmin International, Inc. of Olathe, Kans., can be worn on a user's wrist or forearm, includes a GPS receiver, and is operable to continuously monitor and track the user's heart rate, speed, distance traveled, pace, and calories burned and to provide directions or routes to desired destinations or along desired routes.
Although portable personal training devices are far superior to the stand-alone components discussed above, they are often bulky, cumbersome, and difficult to wear. Specifically, existing portable personal training devices often include a location determining component and associated antenna that must be housed in proximity with other device components to enable the beneficial functionality described above. Unfortunately, location determining components and antennas increase housing size and often render conventional device housings cumbersome or difficult to wear. For example, existing portable personal training devices often move or shift on a user's wrist, especially as a user sweats, due to their cumbersome design.
Further, due to space and design constraints, portable personal training devices house antennas in positions that often reduce the ability of the devices to acquire satellite signals during user movement. For instance, antennas housed such that they are worn on top of a user's wrist often have difficulty receiving satellite signals as individuals typically walk and run with the top of their wrists facing the horizon and away from the satellite-containing sky.